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Blue Jays’ 2015 deadline deals still paying off: Griffin

The Jays’ roster depth took a hit, sure, but the surge in support after going all-in with Price, Tulowitzki and more continues to have a major impact on the bottom line.

Jose Reyes, who arrived as the centrepiece of Alex Anthopoulos' blockbuster trade with the Marlins before the 2013 season, didn't deliver the impact the Jays were looking for and was shipped to the Rockies in 2015. (LUCAS OLENIUK / TORONTO STAR file photo)

A popular misconception used to explain the Blue Jays’ current lack of depth is to point to the July 2015 trades that secured David Price, Troy Tulowitzki, LaTroy Hawkins, Mark Lowe and Ben Revere, acquisitions that sparked a second-half run to the American League East title.

Sure, the deals may have thinned the rosters at Triple-A Buffalo and Double-A New Hampshire, but Jays fans and ownership should never surrender to regret.

The Rogers Centre crowds since July 28, 2015, when the first deadline deal was announced, have been among the best in the major leagues. Sportsnet TV ratings and Jays merchandise sales have soared across the country, while a new generation of younger, upwardly-mobile baseball fans have become a significant force on the road — partying hearty and taking over enemy ballparks with chants of “Let’s Go Blue Jays.” Players notice.

From Aug. 1, 2015 through the past series against Oakland, the Jays had drawn 6,715,065 fans to the Rogers Centre, averaging 41,708 in 161 home dates. That’s a lot of jerseys, caps and souvenirs, and a lot of beer under the bridge.

You might ask what that means financially to Jays’ ownership. Well, when Jose Bautista drew his ill-advised line in the sand in February, 2016 after stopping in to chat with president Mark Shapiro about a contract extension, Bats came armed with all the facts — including Rogers share-price increases — and it was significant.

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He knew what the attendance and the playoffs and the bat flip had meant to Rogers’ bottom line, and he thought he deserved his fair share. He may have misread his situation, but he was not wrong about the value of a successful franchise.

So, let’s go back to the original premise that those deadline deals in 2015 led to the Jays being painfully thin in homegrown pitching — having to sign veteran minor-league free agents to flesh out the major-league and Triple-A staffs. Let’s examine the inventory that then-GM Alex Anthopoulos traded away.

Recall at the time the Jays were 50-51 and in fourth place in the AL East, with an aging Jose Reyes and his big contract and no range in the field as an organizational albatross. Just moving Reyes’ contract — earning $22 million U.S. a season at the time — was a huge coup, and even though Tulowitzki was hurt for much of the second half, Ryan Goins was a huge upgrade defensively over Reyes and the Jays soared.

Of the 11 young pitchers the Jays traded away in that final week of July, just four have reached the majors and none has made a significant impact yet.

The Tigers have, off and on over the last two years, utilized lefties Daniel Norris and Matt Boyd in the rotation, but neither has really established himself since the Price trade.

Miguel Castro and Jeff Hoffman were included in the Tulowitzki/Hawkins deal with the Rockies, along with Reyes.

Hoffman may at some point be a top-of-the-rotation guy, but thus far he has battled injuries and seen mixed results when given an opportunity with Colorado.

Castro, the Jays’ opening-day closer that year, has a tremendous arm, but Roberto Osuna, who also broke camp with the major-league Jays as a 20-year-old in 2015, has been better. The Jays have not been disappointed by that decision. Osuna’s the one.

Left-hander Rob Rasmussen was one of those low-ceiling relievers perpetually on the Toronto-Buffalo shuttle. He was a throw-in when the Jays added Lowe from Seattle. At the end of the ’15 season he was released by the Mariners, signed by the Angels and then retired at spring training in order to further his education.

The other six pitchers traded by the Jays in that four-day span are all still in the minor leagues: lefty Jairo Labourt at Triple-A for the Tigers; lefty Jake Brentz (M’s), plus right-handers Alberto Tirado (Phils) and Jimmy Cordero (Nats) at Double-A; and lefty Jesus Tinoco (Rockies) and Nick Wells (M’s) still in A-ball. None of them has earned a “can’t-miss” label.

The ironic thing about the whole situation is that a month before the ’15 trade deadline, the Jays had engaged Mark Shapiro from Cleveland to become president and officially replace Paul Beeston at the end of October.

The Jays had been struggling on the field for three years, since the first attempt at going “all-in” during the 2012-13 off-season. Anthopoulos had made huge deals with the Marlins and the Mets, adding significantly to the payroll.

Rogers’ idea in hiring Shapiro was to rebuild the team from the bottom up: Build a farm and suffer growing pains at the major-league level. That all changed when Anthopoulos went rogue and created a division winner, attracting 1.3 million fans to the last 30 home games. But the Rogers die was cast and Shapiro had already been hired.

The new president came on board Nov. 1 with a changed mandate: Keep the fans in the building and eyes on the TV screens. Make them want to buy more Blue Jays on their mobile devices.

Face it, when Kendrys Morales launched a game-tying home run to centre field in the eighth inning on Thursday that was caught by a fan leaning out of the Flight Deck, with a glove in one hand and a beer in the other, that was Anthopoulos’ legacy. No, not Morales. It’s the fan and all the other good-time customers who would never have been there had the departing GM not made those deals.

For the Jays there’s no turning back, no giving up on 2018 via a total rebuild. Deep down, Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins might want to do it, but Rogers knows they have a good thing going and will try to sell 2018 as a year of staying competitive and simply reloading with younger, more athletic players.

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